Female intuition: Greenwich Girl brand gains clout

Neil Vigdor

Published 1:00 am, Saturday, April 26, 2014

Laura McKittrick, creator of the "Greenwich Girl" lifestyle blog, displays an iPad with her blog at the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Greenwich, Conn., Friday, April 25, 2014. McKittrick says the makeup counter at Saks is one of her prime locations to gather content and follow fashion trends for her blog.

At right, Laura McKittrick, creator of the "Greenwich Girl" lifestyle blog, gets makeup applied by Fran O'Neill, a Chanel manager, at the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Greenwich, Conn., Friday, April 25, 2014. McKittrick says the makeup counter at Saks is one of her prime locations to gather content and follow fashion trends for her blog.
Photo: Bob Luckey

After having makeup applied, Laura McKittrick, creator of the "Greenwich Girl" lifestyle blog, looks at her image in a mirror held by Fran O'Neill, right, a Chanel manager, at the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Greenwich, Conn., Friday, April 25, 2014. McKittrick says the makeup counter at Saks is a prime location to gather content and follow fashion trends for her blog.
Photo: Bob Luckey

Laura McKittrick, creator of the "Greenwich Girl" lifestyle blog, displays an iPad with her blog at the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Greenwich, Conn., Friday, April 25, 2014. McKittrick says the makeup counter at Saks is one of her prime locations to gather content and follow fashion trends for her blog.
Photo: Bob Luckey

Nothing with the name of the governor to indicate you've crossed the state line -- just a river.

But for three months, the first thing drivers saw upon entering Connecticut via the chronically congested Mill Street corridor was the face of Greenwich Girl, glamming it up from her perch on a $2,200-a-month billboard.

Greenwich Girl, or GG as her friends call her, is Laura McKittrick, who in less than two years has become her own brand with a digital magazine, blog and enough Twitter followers to fill Yankee Stadium.

From a new adult beverage line called Spiked Seltzer and must-have baubles to personal training sessions and a Valentino dress, retailers are showering the 30-year-old former hedge-funder with swag in a bid to capitalize on the word of mouth and extensive friend network that Greenwich Girl commands.

"It was like a $1,200 dress," gushed McKittrick. McKittrick is the editor and creative director of Greenwich Girl magazine, a digital publication in the luxury lifestyle niche that comes out every other month.

Part look book, part girly magazine with Greenwich Girl-isms ("obvi" and "fingers crossed"), the issues are filled with product testimonials and advice from McKittrick and about a dozen unpaid contributing writers on topics such as how to declutter and the best places to dine al fresco.

The magazine had 16,000 unique readers for its February issue, according to McKittrick, who said that 90 percent of her audience are women ages 25 to 47.

"You're not going to find a harder working young woman," said Geri Corrigan, director of marketing at Saks Fifth Avenue in Greenwich. "She's such an integral part of the community."

When Saks Fifth Avenue had an opening on its community advisory board, McKittrick, a graduate of Greenwich High School and George Washington University, was an obvious choice. She needed no introduction to the other members, however.

McKittrick's Facebook profile, which has more than 11,000 "likes," lists her as a public figure. Starbucks often doubles as the office of the iPad and iPhone-clutching media phenom, who three years ago collaborated on a tongue-and-cheek hurricane blog that turned her on to writing.

A hair salon, laser hair removal spa and lingerie boutique subsidized the cost of the billboard for McKittrick in return for having their logos displayed. McKittrick even scored a cross-promotion with her local Jeep dealership, coining the slogan, "Every GG needs a Jeep! Beep, beep."

"I used to hunt the Avenue every day, going up and down," McKittrick said of soliciting advertisers. "Now it's sort of being able to sleep again and I get people approaching me to advertise."

"We think she's able to reach some diversified markets that we want to reach," said Marcia O'Kane, the chamber's executive director.

At the YMCA of Greenwich, McKittrick is the founder and chairman of the junior board of directors, a position that she said has enabled her to mentor girls. McKittrick said she recently got clearance from the Board of Education to create a Greenwich Girl after-school program.

"I teach them the GG pearls of wisdom," McKittrick said of the girls she mentors.